Resist Me

by Samantha Lee

  Sal hung up the phone, “Torre said, there was nothing to pass on and Peter has been taken care of.” Sal paused. “Why didn’t he interrogate Peter?” there was a long silence between them, Sal was the first to ask the question that lingered unsaid in the room. “You think Torre was involved?”

  Antony didn’t answer, he still didn’t have enough evidence to accuse Torre of anything, but it wasn’t normal that someone like Peter wouldn’t be interrogated before he was executed, yet he was not. Or Torre interrogated him, but he wasn’t sharing information with Antony.

  Antony pulled his cufflink, he was missing something, who wanted Peter silenced? It had to be the same person who was helping him, was it Torre? Or was it someone else? Antony didn’t know, but he knew this was the piece he needed to find out and he would.

  All morning Antony and Sal worked on the thick stack of papers. Together they sorted through each file, discarding, and marking pieces. They were trying to reconcile their current inventory, outgoing shipments, deliveries and the corresponding customers, they weren’t getting anywhere, it was circular chaos. Antony decided it would be easier to go and inventory each bin and trailer on the pier individually, opposed to trying to sort through half-kept and intentionally fraudulent files. Antony was worried Peter had drugs or guns sitting there on the pier begging for the alphabet boys to seize it. He knew what their contact at the Feds said, but Antony trusted no one. He wouldn’t put anything past anyone, so the quicker they could clean shit up the better.

  Antony’s phone vibrated in his pocket, he pulled his phone out and read the text, “Gino wants to meet next week,” Antony said to Sal.

  Sal nodded, “He is old school like that. He likes to talk business face to face. He likes to look in the eyes of the men he will do business with.”

  Antony knew that about Gino. “Call him and set it up.” Antony stood and fixed his tie. “I have a few meetings this afternoon. Pull the scraps of information we figured out together and put them in the bottom drawer. I need you to hit the streets, get your soldiers in line. I have a few ideas and I will need them soon.” He pulled on his blue blazer, “Let’s meet up at the club later tonight.” Sal nodded. Antony walked out of his office, he stopped, and turned toward Yvette’s office. He smiled, he hadn’t seen her yet today. Would she be embarrassed about what happened last night? His lips widen with a mischievous smile, he was taken off guard with the sincerity of his emotion. He wanted to see her, find out what she would say to him, how he could drag out his time with her. He pushed those unsettling feelings to the back of his mind to think on later, and walked to her office. He knocked on her door. “Come in,” she said, her voice was muffled. Antony opened the door and walked into her office then stopped. An intense desire swept through his body that almost caused him to sway on his feet, like some high school boy. Yvette’s ass was in the air as she bent over her desk trying to reach something. She wiggled her ass a little to extend her reach. Antony’s thoughts seized, his shaft jumped in his pants. That round shapely ass of hers was worth writing sonnets about. His eyes and shaft locked on the surprise gift that was offered to him. Too soon Yvette turned around to face him, her face held a look of surprise, “Oh, it’s you!” she said.

  Antony’s brow went up, “Were you expecting someone?”

  Yvette shook her head, “No, but I wasn’t expecting you.”

  Antony was annoyed, she wasn’t expecting him, nor was she happy to see him. He tried to mask his annoyance. Through clenched teeth he said, “I came to get you for our meeting. Are you ready for it?”

  “Yes,” Yvette said and held up her pen and paper.

  Antony’s eyes perused Yvette’s body, she tamed her hair in a severe bun. He cursed the loose fit of her white blouse, but he was rewarded by the way her long legs were silhouetted against the thin fabric of her skirt. Yvette walked toward him, her fragrance preceded her, it was faint and intoxicating. The smell of her made his body come alive, he imagined having her scent on his pillows, covers, and his body. He closed his eyes and tried to tame his desire, he couldn’t have her. He had to stop looking at her, as if he could. Antony cleared his throat. “Shall we?” Yvette nodded and walked past him and out of her office. Antony couldn’t help it, he watched her walk out of her office, “That ass,” he whispered and shook his head, the way her ass moved entranced him. He adjusted his pants, and walked out of her office and closed her door behind him. Antony grabbed her elbow to pull her to a stop, “Is there something I need to know going into this meeting? It is only my second day.”

  Yvette looked down at his hold on her elbow. Antony released her, “I don’t think so, we are going over shipping rates for next fiscal year. Our current delivery courier contract is coming to a close, so there will be a presentation by the company. They want us to renew with them.” She leaned in and whispered in his ear. “I don’t think we were planning on continuing with this company, so we are letting them present so they believe we were fair with them.” He walked with Yvette to the meeting, she missed a step, and her ankle rolled in her high heels. She fell onto Antony. Antony grabbed her and held her up, but his hand rested on her breast, where it lingered for a second too long. “Sorry,” Antony said when he pulled his hands off her and made sure she was upright.

  Yvette chuckled. “I don’t think I can be embarrassed around you anymore. Really, you’ve seen everything, tripping a little doesn’t seem like a big deal, right?”

  “I haven’t seen everything.” Antony said. He cleared his throat and tried to forget the way her breast felt in his hand. It fit perfectly in his large hand, he almost squeezed it before he released her. That small contact with her made him hard as a rock, for the third time in less than thirty minutes, that couldn’t be healthy. He ground his teeth from the pain of his hard erection that pressed against his pants. Fuck, this would be a long and painful meeting.

  ***

  “Our rates are the lowest in the state and we are willing to make it lower. Your business is important to us, and we want to make sure we keep our loyal customers by giving them not only what they want, but what they deserve.” The representative from Ace Courier said as he finished his presentation.

  Antony listened to the presentation from the company and was convinced he would renew the contract with Ace Courier. Why wouldn’t they? Most likely, not renewing their contract was another Peter decision and who the fuck knows where he was going with that. He looked over at Yvette, what he was going to say would make her mad. When he glanced in her direction, she was looking at her phone, her lips pressed tight and her brows drawn in frustration. He wondered if that was the guy from last night texting her, and that made his fist clench again, damn it, was he jealous? He couldn’t be, he’d never been jealous before. There could never be anything between them other than an employer and employee relationship.

  After a few questions from his executives. Antony stood and shook the representative’s hand. Antony positioned himself so the conversation between him and the representative could be heard throughout the room. “Thank you, we will get back with you regarding our decision but I can tell you, not to worry.” When Antony turned around, he saw Yvette’s eyes narrow on him. Not staying with Ace Courier made little sense and, if it doesn’t make sense, then, it doesn’t get done. Antony would get this company in hand. He didn’t need the front company doing illegal shit.

  The meeting ended and Yvette stayed seated. He was about to walk out of the conference room until Yvette called him back.

  “Mr. Carbonaro, do you have a moment?”

  He looked at his watch, “Yes. What is it?” Yvette turned her chair around and waited for the last person to leave. The last person to leave was Areyanna, she smiled at Antony, and he smiled back. When he turned back to Yvette, he caught the end of an eye roll. Good, he wasn’t the only one who felt the attraction between them.

  Yvette faced him, “I am sure I told you we decided not to go with Ace Courier next year, but you gave them hope we would.”
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  The tone she used with Antony brought out something dangerous in Antony and before he knew it he was playing with his cufflink, “I heard what you said,” he took a step toward her, “but you don’t run this company, I do.” He was in front of her now, “I make the final decisions and-” he said bending down, his face in front of hers. They were so close he smelled her mint gum on her breath, “I said we are using them, you got that?”

  Yvette pushed her chair back, ducked her head, and moved quickly to the door, she left but not before mumbling, “Yes, Mr. Carbonaro.”

  Antony scowled at her retreating back. He hadn’t done anything to her, but she retreated in fear of him. That was an unattractive trait, finally, he found something unattractive about her. Her fear irked him. She was like the other women, none of them could handle the man he was underneath the good boy guise, that he showed the world.

  Antony went back to his office, Sal was already gone. He had one last meeting but in the meantime, he wanted to go over the numbers from Ace Courier’s presentation, he wasn’t doing it because he needed to explain himself to Yvette, at least that is what he told himself. In truth, her cowardice repelled him but something about her enthralled him. He ran a hand through his hair, he didn’t think he would come out of this attraction to Yvette unscathed.

  Antony sat in his office for hours, his afternoon meeting was canceled. He long ago finished reviewing the numbers for Ace Courier, and his conclusions were sound. They were the best deal out of all the other offers. Antony was confident he could make Yvette see things his way. Antony knew he didn’t need to convince her but having her misunderstand him, or be against him in even a small decision didn’t feel right to him. He wanted her to understand him, his decisions, his thoughts, he didn’t understand why he felt like this but God help him, he couldn’t stop.

  Antony turned his attention toward his Family business, the operations behind the front. After he reviewed the paperwork again, failing to match bins and trailers with the few existing manifestos, he developed a good understanding of what went wrong and what he needed to do. They needed to open every container and create new logs for the ones that had no manifesto and document the contents. They would move the containers with product but no documentation off the pier to a secure location. Antony wrote his thoughts in his personal shorthand on his iPad. Nobody understood the shorthand but Sal. He put down the paper and looked down at his watch. It was almost five. His thoughts gravitated to Yvette, would she still be here? She should be, he told her to work late.

  Before he could overthink it, he picked up his office phone and called Yvette. She picked up on the second ring, he didn’t give her a chance to speak, “You are staying late tonight, right?” he asked.

  Antony heard her sigh over the phone, “Yes.”

  “I will bring dinner.”

  “No, I don’t need dinner, but thank you.” She said.

  Antony waited a moment, “Hmmm, can you repeat what I just said?”

  Antony could hear the confusion in her voice. “You said, you were bringing dinner?”

  “So you heard it right. Is Chinese okay?” he asked.

  There was a short silence, “Yes, Chinese is fine,” she said.

  Antony grinned, amused as all hell, something that didn’t happen often, “Good, meet me in my office at six.” He hung up.

  He walked out of his office and stopped at Sandra’s desk. “I am working late tonight with Yvette. Order us some Chinese, shrimp fried rice, broccoli and steak, noodles, and some General Tso’s Chicken. Oh, and something to drink. Put the spread on my coffee table before you leave.”

  “Yes Mr. Carbonaro.” She said.

  ***

  Yvette changed clothes, she wanted to be comfortable if she had to work late into the night. She pulled the gym bag she brought with her from under her desk. She pulled out her leggings, a big paisley shirt and flats. It was five forty-five, she only had fifteen minutes to get dressed and to Antony’s office.

  Yvette was pulling her head out of her bag when she heard her phone vibrate on her desk. She grabbed the phone off her desk, she prayed it wasn’t Donato. Things with him were becoming ridiculous. During the meeting today, he had text her asking her out to dinner. She didn’t respond, so he sent a text saying if not dinner then let’s fuck, she didn’t respond to that one either. She turned her phone over, and her stomach dropped with dread, she didn’t want to deal with Donato any more. She was starting to become afraid of him, because he was becoming difficult to handle. She hadn’t realized she held her breath until she saw the reminder alert on her phone and exhaled. It was a reminder she sat earlier so she wouldn’t forget to stay late, it wasn’t Donato. Relief flooded her body the tension that was building up drained, and the pressure on her shoulders lifted a bit.

  Yvette stood and stretched, she shook her body imagining that she was shaking negative energy away. She quickly dressed inside her small closet. She looked herself over in the mirror that hung on the inside of her closet door. Good enough, she thought, then grabbed her laptop and walked to Antony’s office.

  Yvette knocked on the open door, there was no answer. She stepped into his office, “Mr. Carbonaro,” she said and walked further into the room. On the coffee table, she spied the massive spread of food. Her stomach growled, she had no idea she was hungry until she smelled the satisfying smell of Asian cuisine. Yvette sat down and made herself a plate. A door on her left opened and Antony walked out of his office closet with jeans and a white shirt with three buttons undone. He wiped his hands on his pants and lifted a questioning brow.

  “You didn’t wait for me before you ate? That’s rude isn’t it?” he smirked.

  “If I was on a date that would be rude but I am not, I am on the clock working, so there are no set rules.” Yvette said with a shrug.

  To Yvette’s dismay, he walked to the sofa and sat down next to her. His thigh touched hers when he reached to pick up a paper plate.

  They ate in silence for a while. The silence was awkward, at least for Yvette. Antony broke the silence. “How long have you been here, in Manhattan?”

  “I went to school here, so a little over five years.”

  Antony nodded, “Then where are you from?”

  Yvette was distracted by the feel of him against her. He was too close. She moved over to put space between them.

  “I am originally from Winona, a small town in Minnesota.” Yvette stuffed a fork full of noodles into her mouth. She waited until she finished chewing her food to ask, “Where are you from?”

  “My family is from Italy, I hold dual citizenship so I spent a lot of my formative years in Italy, but most of my life I have lived right here in Manhattan.”

  Somehow, they were close to each other again. She wasn’t sure if she moved toward him or if he moved toward her.

  “Is your family still in Minnesota?” Antony asked and reached for an egg roll.

  Antony looked at her after she didn’t respond. He noticed the dim in her big brown eyes, sadness overwhelmed them. He knew instinctively something bad happened to her when she was young. He hadn’t expected her to answer, she surprised him when she did. “My parents died in a bad car crash when I was in middle school.”

  He hadn’t realized his hand reached out for hers until he felt the warmth of her hand under his. Yvette looked up at him and licked her lips. Antony’s eyes were on her lips, they followed the sensual movement, and locked on the beads of moisture her tongue left in its wake, he moved closer to her. He wanted to kiss her. He needed to kiss the sadness from her eyes, he wanted to replace the sadness with desire, for him, only him. Antony moved closer, his lips touched hers, he groaned against her full luscious lips. Slowly he pulled away from her, their lips lingered not willing to be pulled apart. His forehead rested on hers, “This is a bad idea,” he said then kissed her again. He lifted his head to look into her eyes, “This is a terrible idea, but…” kissed her again, she tilted her head he understood what she wanted. The only choice
left for him was to taste her, take her, make her understand the passion he could give her.

  He deepened their kiss, his tongue slipped into her mouth. When his tongue brushed against hers, he moaned in her mouth. Antony grabbed the back of her head and pulled her closer. He couldn’t get close enough, he pushed her body flat against the sofa. His body spread atop of hers. Their kiss escalated from shy and tentative to needing, searching, then wanting. He lifted her shirt up so he could push his hand up her shirt. His eyes rolled back in his head and his shaft twitched when his hand covered her breast. He squeezed then pulled her bra down exposing her breast. He sat back to look at his offering.

  The dark tip was tight, pointing at him begging him to put it in his mouth. Antony’s shaft was so hard, he needed relief. He had never been this hard and not been inside of a woman. Antony reached down and unzipped his pants he needed to give his shaft freedom. He never took his eyes off Yvette. Her breath was coming hard and fast, her breasts jiggled from the slight tremble of her body. Every inhale brought his offering closer, he answered the call of her body. He bent down and licked her nipple, he felt her entire body shiver under his ministrations. He sucked her breast in his mouth and moaned when she whimpered.

  Yvette pushed her fingers through his hair. Shit, this woman. He was breaking his rules, he shouldn’t---his mind splintered when he felt her push her sex against his bare shaft. Antony could feel the heat of her sex through the thin leggings she was wearing. The warmth of Yvette’s sex wrapped around his naked shaft, on a moan, he ground into her. If he removed her pants, he’d slip into her wet depths. Antony looked at her face, her eyes were closed tight, her head thrown back with desire. “Beautiful,” he whispered but she hadn’t heard him, she was lost in sensation, the sensitivity of her sex and the friction of his thrust was a sensual combination that he knew well. Antony felt her body quiver with the anticipation of sex, sex that promised to be life changing.

  Antony’s mind registered the vibration of his phone on the table, he debated answering it, but as the underboss, he had responsibilities that could not be ignored. He moved from between her legs and grabbed the phone off the table, he kept his eyes on Yvette. He watched her eyes pop open, he saw the tremble in her bottom lip before she bit her lip to hide it. Fascinated, Antony watched the heavy haze of lust and desire clear and a storm of doubt roll in. Her eyes telegraphed the exact moment she panicked. Antony pressed his hand against her chest holding her on the couch, he placed one knee between her open legs, and his other leg remained planted on the floor. When she struggled, he pressed his thigh against her sex, then answered the phone. Antony smiled when he heard her sharp intake of breath. Antony pointed to his phone and put his finger to his lips to silence her, “Yeah.”